Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Fashion … Forward? Tilted High Heels Are ‘Scary Beautiful’

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 04:00 PM PST

In a world of highly-edited images of supposed perfection, these bizarre shoes highlight the extremes to which people (women in particular) are encouraged to go to satisfy strange ideals, but perhaps also show creative capabilities and untapped potentials (for better or worse).

Leanie van der Vyver (images by Lyall Coburn) is a designer in South Africa who wanted to tell a story about the odd and demanding world of high fashion (literally, in this case) and body image, and chose to use her thesis project (dubbed Scary Beautiful to do it.

From the thesis: “Just being human is not good enough anymore nor has it ever been. What is very clear is that people are not satisfied with what they were naturally born with. Neither the prehistoric cave dweller nor modern man has ever considered the human body aesthetically satisfactory. It is human nature to want to be more than what we are, and from the beginning of time we have gone to extreme measures to express on the outside how we desire to be perceived.”

Her message speaks to ancient and terrible traditions like foot binding, but also present and future possibilities in the form of photographic manipulation, cybernetic additions and other artificial enhancements. “On the surface, we are physically turning into ideal dream versions of ourselves. Being born a certain way is no longer a life sentence. We can choose exactly who we want to be. What are the possibilities of this new God-like control we have over our bodies?”

Central Spiral Staircase Has 6000-Book Shelving Capacity

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST

This home of a 19th-Century poet, converted to a contemporary literary center, was designed to feature volumes by famous writers from around Portugal.

The original structure had to be gutted, leaving only the exterior walls and the open question of what to do with the interior.

Designed by Manuel Maia Gomes (images by Fernando Guerra), the new wooden steps compliment the exposed ceiling beams and rafters, connecting visually up through the two stories the staircase spans.

Back-lit white shelves illuminate this navigational core, and provide a neutral backdrop for the thousands of books to be set on them at each level, all lifting off from a light-touch landing on an open white-walled first floor.

Literal Book Light: Portable Lamp Unfolds Open Like Pages

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:00 PM PST

Pretty, portable and perfect for book-lovers, this lovely source of illumination can be folded from flat to a 360-degree cylinder for various lighting demands.

A flexible fan-like interior surface allows maximum flexibility, and diffuses the light projected from within. The lamp has an eight-hour battery life and built-in magnets allowing it to be hung or suspended as well as simply being set on a shelf.

Max Gunawan is an architect funding this industrious invention via Kickstarter where it is already quite successful on the funding front. Of its history, he writes: “Lumio started as an exploration to design a modular home that can fold flat and fit into a compact car. During the design development, I quickly realize that it will take a lot of capital (that I don’t have) to build working prototypes for the folding house. During this period, I’ve built a few folding architectural models that I carry around in my sketchbook.”

Form followed function as well as inspiration in this case as well: “When I decided to pivot and translate the concept into a folding lamp, it was a natural progression to use the form of the sketchbook as a way to package the lamp. That’s how Lumio was born.” This great little gadget is powered by lithium-ion batteries and utilizes LEDs – it comes in a variety of finishes as well to fit any bookshelf.

Skinny Extension: Adding Daylight to a 7-Foot-Wide Home

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST

Plotted on what was once an access road for its two neighbors, this ultra-narrow, party-wall-bound house had nowhere to go but up – particularly if it wanted to escape the light-less confines of its original configuration.

Bringing natural daylight into the space was a key goal and accomplishment of the addition by Alma-nac in London, using a higher roof and strategic skylight angles to help light filter into the depths of this long and narrow site.

A central lightwell, visible in section and axonometric drawings, allows light into the most recessed areas of the space – as a result, even first-floor-middle zones feel surprisingly open and spacious.

The narrow plan also means there are no bump-outs available for extra belongings: “A key consideration was storage space and every corner of the property has been utilised, from the bed-head with integrated storage, loft space over the top bedroom and compact bathroom layouts. The elongated form of the main bedroom at first floor level allowed for the creation of a dressing room area so that the bedroom space remains uncluttered of furniture.”

As to the original abode: “The building was laid out over three floors with cramped bedrooms facing on to the noisy high street and small sash windows of the study and bathroom to the south facing rear. At ground level the entrance lobby doubled up as a dining room and a piecemeal existing rear extension gave limited access to the garden through the kitchen.”

Stackable Soft Parcel Furniture Set Wrapped in Fabric

Posted: 03 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST

What’s the easiest way to upholster a rectangular piece of furniture? Wrapping it the same way you would a package, resulting in a clean geometric shape. The ‘Soft Parcel’ furniture series by TAF Arkitekter is incredibly simple, covering blocks of foam with high-quality fabric in shades of white and kraft-paper-brown. The units can be stacked as desired to create benches, couches, ottomans and tables.

If having unwrapped gifts in your living room creates a sense of excitement, Soft Parcel will make it feel like a holiday year-round. Of course, they also offer a playful twist on the aesthetics of a shipping facility storeroom.  In order to use two of the volumes as a chair, they are placed on a trolley.

“The fabric looks like paper and the product becomes a gift,” explain architects Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom, who created the design for Rossana Orlandi gallery in Milan. “Sometimes the shape of a present becomes more important than the actual content. In this case the inside would be whatever you wish it to be.”

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